Douce II, Countess of Provence facts for kids
Douce II (born around 1162, died 1172) was a young noblewoman who briefly held the title of Countess of Provence. She was also Viscountess of Gévaudan and Carlat for a few months in 1166. Later, in 1172, she was Countess of Melgueil for a short time. Douce was part of the House of Barcelona, a powerful family from Catalonia. This family gained control of the County of Provence when Douce I married Ramon Berenguer III, Count of Barcelona.
A Young Countess
Douce was the only child of Ramon Berenguer II, who was the Count of Provence, and Richeza of Poland. Her parents married in 1162.
In 1165, when Douce was still a baby, her father made an important agreement in a place called Beaucaire. He promised that Douce would marry Raymond, who was the oldest son and future ruler of the nearby County of Toulouse. Raymond's father was Raymond V.
Sadly, Douce's father, Ramon Berenguer, died in 1166 while trying to conquer the city of Nice. Because she was his only child, Douce inherited the County of Provence. She was only about four years old at the time.
A Kingdom in Dispute
As soon as Douce became Countess, Raymond V, the father of her fiancé, quickly entered Provence. He wanted to make sure that the marriage agreement between Douce and his son would still happen. He even tried to arrange a marriage with Douce's mother to strengthen his claim.
However, a young king named Alfonso stepped in. Alfonso was the King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona. He was also Douce's father's first cousin, which made him a close male relative. Alfonso believed he had a right to Provence. This was based on an agreement from 1162 with the Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick Barbarossa. Because of this, Alfonso started calling himself the "Margrave of Provence."
To buy some time, Alfonso wrote to Raymond V. He pretended to agree to the planned marriages for both Douce and her mother. But soon, a conflict began between Alfonso and Raymond V. Even though Alfonso faced some challenges at first, he eventually won. By the end of 1166, Alfonso arrived in Provence. The first noble to support him was William VII of Montpellier, and soon all the other nobles in Provence also declared their loyalty to Alfonso.
Losing Her Land
In 1168, Alfonso decided to give Provence to his own brother, Ramon Berenguer III. This meant that Douce officially lost her inheritance of Provence. However, she was still allowed to keep her title as Countess.
After this, Douce moved to live at the court of her grandmother, Beatrice, Countess of Melgueil. In April 1172, her grandmother Beatrice decided to divide the County of Melgueil between her daughter, Ermessende of Pelet, and Douce. At this time, Douce was still promised to marry Raymond of Toulouse.
Sadly, Douce died in the same year, 1172. Because of her death, the entire County of Melgueil went to her half-aunt, Ermessende. Interestingly, Ermessende then married Raymond of Toulouse, who had been Douce's fiancé.
Images for kids
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Coat-of-arms of Provence
